Kevin Smith to make Red State before Hit Somebody

March 24, 2010 - By Ben Pearson

Fanboy favorite writer/director Kevin Smith has been trying for nearly three years to get his horror film Red State financed, and it appears he’s finally accomplished his mission. According to his Twitter account, the foul-mouthed filmmaker is planning on going into production on Red State before his rumored hockey film Hit Somebody.

The movie’s plot is still a bit under wraps, but so far we know the story revolves around a preacher similar to Fred Phelps and “unlikable characters making horrible decisions.”

Here are some quotes from Smith through the years talking about Red State.

“The movie’s called Red State and it’s very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It’s certainly not Phelps himself but it’s very much inspired by a Phelps figure,” revealed Smith. “And to me, too, the notion of using a Phelps-like character as a villain, as horrifying and scary as that guy can be, there’s even something more insidious than him that lurks out there in as much as a public or a government that allows it and that’s the other thing that I’m trying to examine in a big, big way. It’s weird because for a few months I’ve been saying ‘horror movie’ and technically it is, but it’s also not a very traditional horror movie in the sense that people have been asking me, ‘Is it a slasher movie? Is it like the Japanese horror flicks?’ It’d be much easier to just show it to them when I’m done and be like, ‘This is what I meant.’ At which point I’m sure there’ll be people saying, ‘This ain’t a horror movie!’ But to me, it is.”

“It’s not a really commercial film at all. It’s very bleak and very dark, and there’s no one to root for in the movie, so it’s a real film festival type of film, but it’s not the kind of movie you can take into multiplexes and do a bunch of business with.

“It is definitely a 180 from everything else we’ve done including Zack and Miri but at the same time, it’s not like a splatter film, it’s not like slasher balls-to-the-wall gore, it’s more unsettling and disturbing type of horror.”

It’s interesting that even though Cop Out wasn’t a breakout box office success, Smith has still found financing for this project. Something Smith has always done well is turn profits; usually he directs flicks with smaller budgets and makes them back (and then some) at the box office. While that strategy may not make for the most critically appealing films, turning a profit definitely makes the studios happy. It’ll be interesting to see if Smith can rejuvenate his career in a genre he’s never tackled before.

Smith also revealed he is still in the writing stage of Hit Somebody, the hockey film based on Warren Zevon’s song and potentially starring Seann William Scott. He claims he’ll begin production on that film after he wraps on Red State.